PARADIGM OF IDEAS

Women of Pakistan…..Jobless or not?

Pakistan is an under developed country with a lot of socioeconomic problems. Unemployment or joblessness is one of the economic problems faced by Pakistan. According to the “World Fact Book” the unemployment rate in Pakistan is 7.7% which means that out of 190,291,129 people more than 30 lacks are unemployed excluding the in actives i.e. all those people who are either not able to or who are not willing to work.

According to some people women in Pakistan should quit their jobs to reduce joblessness in Pakistan. However the reality is a bit different. Women are 51% of Pakistan’s population therefore according to the statistics they can contribute more to the workforce. If women quit their jobs the unemployment rates would further raise because still 10.5% of the women’s population in Pakistan is unemployed which is contributing as a large proportion to the total unemployment rates.

Moreover compared to men’s unemployment rates 7%, women’s unemployment rates are already higher thus if women would further give up their jobs the joblessness in Pakistan would further increase causing the situations to be worsened.
The assumption that “women should quit jobs to reduce unemployment” exists in Pakistan due to many factors including the stereotyping of women as being “GOOD HOUSE WIVES”. It is true that women are good housewives but that does not means that they cannot be good working women. There are many examples of successful working women of Pakistan who are not just working outside their homes but are also handling their household tasks actively.

These examples include Nadia Khan who is a renowned TV anchor, actress and producer. She used to do her morning show “The Nadia Khan Show” on Geo TV a famous Pakistani channel due to which she won a Masala award for the best host of 2008 and 2009. Furthermore she had also won a best actress award for a hit PTV drama “Bandhan” in 1998 and was also dubbed the “Oprah Winfrey” of Pakistan by a famous news paper in 2007. Aside from her social life Nadia Khan is a mother of two children and is taking care of them.

Nadia Khan with her children

Other than Nadia Khan, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is a good example of successful Pakistani working women. Sharmeen is a documentary filmmaker and a journalist. She won an Academy award for her documentary “Saving Face” in 2012, she also won an Emmy and Oscar award for her documentary “Pakistan: children of Taliban” in 2010 and is the first non-American to win the Livingston award for young journalists. Moreover she has also been lauded as Pakistan’s first female Oscar winner by the press and the government due to which she is also awarded Hilal-e-Imtaiz for bringing honor to Pakistan as a filmmaker by the president of Pakistan.

Sharmeen Obaid with her Award

Besides these two there are many more examples of successful Pakistani women which may includes Shaista Wahidi, Nida Yasir, Jugan, Sanam Baloch, Maira Khan, Samina Pirzada, and etc. These were some of the examples from the television industry but working women are not just limited to Television industry but are also achieving in other fields as well. For instance women are also popular politicians like Benazir Bhutto who was the chair person of her party “Pakistan People’s Party” and was the president of Pakistan. Other than her Sharmeela Farooqi, Fauzia Wahab, Firdaus Ishaq Awan and etc are all examples of famous politicians.

Furthermore women of Pakistan are also attaining as good doctors, engineers, army officials and teachers and in every field possible therefore when they are achieving this much and are also contributing in the prestige of their country. They should not quit jobs and continue them to improve the reputation of Pakistan.

Pakistan Women Cricket team with their gold medals

Other reason which may contribute to the thinking that women should quit jobs is the misinterpretation of Islamic approach. According to many people Islam prohibits women for doing jobs but in reality the case is different. It is true that Islam conditions women in doing jobs but it does not prohibit women at all. Islam regards women’s role in society as a mother and a wife as her most sacred and essential one. However, there is no decree in Islam that forbids women from seeking employment whenever there is a necessity for it, especially in positions which fit her nature best and in which society needs her most. Examples of working women like Hazrat Khatija who was the first wife of Holly Prophet (PBUH) and Hazrat Aisha who was the youngest wife of the Holly Prophet (PBUH) shows that women can work and they should not quit jobs for the sake of Islam.

Moreover working women in Pakistan are also subjected to a number of pointers; they are often accused for being bold, overwhelming and overcoming men in most spheres of life.

However the reality is very different. Most of the working women are polite and humble as these are the attributes they have to adopt in order to become successful working women.

Likewise there are certain jobs which can only be performed by women for e.g. midwives, gynecologists, nurses and etc. for these jobs it is important for women to work not only for themselves but also to provide services for other women.
The thinking that “women should give up jobs to reduce joblessness in Pakistan” acts as a myth now a days as women are gaining more and more because of which the thinking of people are changing. They are becoming more liberal in favor of women as according to a saying:

“Women with beauty and Brains can rule the world”

Hence women should not quit their jobs to increase employment because if women would not be working, they would not be able to contribute in the country’s Gross Domestic Product which will result in lower incomes and lower living standards further lowering the aggregate demand causing unemployment to rise instead of falling.